Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:15 pm Post subject: The Diversity of Water

Okay, so this may seem like a strange topic but I think it will prove to be interesting.
I love water. I NEVER, EVER, EVER am away from my trusty red Starbucks water bottle. I have drank from the tap once in the last fifteen years, that was the day we moved in to out house and I ran out of Dasani. After spitting out the offending sip, (a tad dramatic I know.) , I hopped in the car to figure out where the nearest water filter was. I later found out that where we live has some of the highest rates of water pollution in the country. I have a Brita attatched to my faucet, a filter in my coffee maker and an emergency suppily of bottled water in the basement in case the Brita breaks. My husband thinks I am like the little girl in "Signs" with my water obsession, but I no longer leave the offending glasses around.
My favorite bottled water is Earth2O out of Oregon, but it isn't sold out here. I tried to convince my parents to load up an extra suitcase when they visited but no dice. When driving through Wisconson last summer all they had in a market we stopped at was something that tasted like pennies, I pulled off as soon as possible to buy something less offensive. I am sort of like Adrian Monk with his water obsession, and I am alright with that.

What is your preference?_________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

I never dreamed we'd be paying for little bottles of water but that is the sad reality these days. I'm not too fussy about what kind of bottled water I drink, usually go with the cheapest. I buy it because i really hate the taste of chemicals in Ottawa city water. BUT my favourite water to drink is the water from our taps at home. We have a 110 foot well that taps into a clean, lovely aquifer. It has a bit of a mineral content but this just adds a bit to the fresh flavour. And talk about COLD! It's a wonderful thing.

Raising my hand here as another water-drinker. It's my preferred beverage. Where I'm living now, a bit outside Dallas, the city water is horribly over-chlorinated. I buy spring water for drinking, making coffee, and cooking rice, etc.

However, the town also has an artesian well, where sweet, cold, water constantly flows. And even better, it's FREE! There is a city law to protect the well so it will always supply free water to people who need it or want it. It's tested often for safety, and has a reputation for being very healthful. People come from over 100 miles away, in pickup trucks or vans filled with 5-gallon carboys & fill them up for a good supply of water. There's almost always a line of vehicles, and I've never failed to meet interesting people in the water line.

Joined: 29 Sep 2004Posts: 1196Location: buried under a pile of books somewhere in Adelaide, South Australia

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 11:50 pm Post subject:

Adelaide's drinking water is right up there on The Worst Water in the World list.

Before I moved here to live, I could only drink tap water if it had cordial in it, maybe because at the time I only had tank (ie, rain) water at home. I'm used to it now, but interstate visitors unanimously hate it.

David, I agree about the concept of paying for water in bottles, but that's my drink of choice when we're out somewhere. The rest of the family reaches for soft drinks (pop/sodas/whatever it's called in other parts of the world) and I reach for a bottle of water.

My nominee for worst city water in Canada is--------------------Regina! (and no it's not just because I hale from Saskatoon) Foul tasting, bad smelling and a bathtub ring you have to scrape off!_________________Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

Wow, I am surprised no one mentioned the water in Los Angeles. I grew up in NorCal and moved to LA to go to college and was shocked by how disgusting the water tasted. Brita could do nothing to improve the chlorinated-yet-still-dirty-tasting water out of the tap. Growing up I never understood why people payed for drinking water; suddenly I couldn't imagine doing anything but.

I'm puzzled. I like water too and have had my share of bottled water. But I also regularly drink LA water and enjoy it. I run it through a Brita filter not for the flavor but to filter out whatever precipitates.

I always use bottled water for my bread 'cause I don't want the yeast to have to work against chlorine but that's about the only thing I'm diligent about not using tap water for.

PS I'm thoroughly convinced that all the advertising claims to the contrary, 90% of all the bottled water we buy is local water run through filters anyway...

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 10:52 pm Post subject:

I myself have never encountered anything a Brita cannot conquer. As far as bottled water, I think it is all in the filter. A good friend doesn't like Brita and yet swears by PUR. Go figure. I have never tasted PUR water but I am sure I would feel strongly about it one way or the other. There are also factors like relocating to a place that has different water like in Montana the water is very rich in alkaline or like where Brighid lives with the spring. So many factors so little time.
I started out drinking Evian but in the U.S. it is mostly distributed in plastic bottles so all I taste is plastic. I could probably do a blind tasting and figure out which water is which. Does anyone have a favorite brand? How about sparkling or still? I am more of a still girl, but as I get older I have taken a shine to sparkling.
This thread has revealed my crazy side if I haven't already._________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

Wow, I am surprised no one mentioned the water in Los Angeles. I grew up in NorCal and moved to LA to go to college and was shocked by how disgusting the water tasted. Brita could do nothing to improve the chlorinated-yet-still-dirty-tasting water out of the tap. Growing up I never understood why people payed for drinking water; suddenly I couldn't imagine doing anything but.

I agree. My college in the States is in Claremont, about 40 miles East of LA, and the water comes out of the tap cloudy and white and always tastes terrible. I grew up in New York and never understood not drinking tap water, except when I was out in Long Beach visiting my family. In terms of bottled water, Poland Spring is my favorite. My mother says it tastes like New York tap water, so maybe Rainey's right. And still water all the way. I've never liked bubbles.

Out here in Paris, we only drink tap water, filling up empty wine bottles with it and keeping it cold in the fridge._________________Don't forget the cannolis!

Here in Auckland I drink water straight from the tap. I do keep a 10L container of filtered water in the fridge but find it quick and easy to grab a glass and turn the tap on. I take a water bottle with me when I go out (which is recycled and filled from the tap).

I was horrified when I saw a recent consumer TV show - the amount of plastic polluting the earth from water bottles is frightening. The programme recommended adding a filter to you tap (most bottled water is filtered tap water) and refilling the one plastic bottle._________________Barbara

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 12:11 pm Post subject:

I find it easier to drink from the tap which is why I bought a filter that is attatched to my faucett. Where I live the levels of contaminates like arsenic and lead, among many others), are astonishing.

I definitely agree about the pollution factor which is why I have trended towards using my trusty red water bottle, (I love red!). That also brings up the importance of recycling!! Until moving to Long Island we were always provided with recycling bins, now we have to sort bottles and take them to the store. It isn't as easy as tossing them into a bin but very necessary. The sad part is that we have no paper recycling, so I have been ever vigilant about canceling all those catalogs. I am an internet shopper anyway!_________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

My nominee for worst city water in Canada is--------------------Regina! (and no it's not just because I hale from Saskatoon) Foul tasting, bad smelling and a bathtub ring you have to scrape off!

David, sounds like the water in Newfoundland, specifically the little community outside of Corner Brook where my dad's family hails from. Same idea. It actually comes out of the taps brown! Can you imagine? But we all drank it growing up!

I find it easier to drink from the tap which is why I bought a filter that is attatched to my faucett. Where I live the levels of contaminates like arsenic and lead, among many others), are astonishing.

Erin, I always drank tap water at home in Manhattan, but when we visited my family in Long Island I was only allowed to drink bottled water. I never understood why until now!_________________Don't forget the cannolis!